InuYasha (Japanese: 犬夜叉, inu "dog" + yasha "demon" from Japanese yasha, derived from masculine Sanskrit yaksha) is a long-running manga and anime series by Rumiko Takahashi (creator of Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2, and others).
The full title is Sengoku o-togi zōshi InuYasha (戦国お伽草子ー犬夜叉), which roughly translates to InuYasha, A Feudal Fairy Tale.
Overview
The Japanese & English InuYasha logosInuYasha is a shōnen action adventure romantic comedy, with elements from the horror genre. The story begins in Tokyo, Japan with a junior high-school girl named Kagome Higurashi, who, on her way to school, heads to the covered well on the family property (which happens to be a Shinto shrine). She does this to retrieve her cat, Buyo, from the well, since her brother was afraid to go inside. When she approaches the well a centipede demon (dubbed "Mistress Centipede") bursts from the well and grabs her. The demon claims that Kagome possesses the Jewel of Four Souls (四魂の玉 Shikon no Tama), and attempts to seize it. When she drives the demon off by an unknown and mysterious power, the very confused Kagome emerges in the Sengoku period of Japan. Kagome wanders and meets an old miko (Shinto priestess) by the name of Kaede, who claims that Kagome is the spitting image of Kikyo (Kikyō), her elder sister (and powerful priestess) who had died and had her body burned with the Jewel of Four Souls, taking it with her into the afterlife. Kaede relates the story of how, 50 years earlier, a han'yō, also a half demon, named InuYasha had tried to steal the Jewel from Kikyo, mortally wounding her in the process, but Kikyo had managed to strike him with a magical arrow, sealing him to the Time Tree and into an enchanted and supposedly eternal sleep, retrieving the Jewel before she finally died.
It turns out that Kagome is the reincarnation of Kikyo, and that she does possess the Jewel of Four Souls, embedded inside her body. When the centipede demon rips it from her and swallows it, granting the demon a great boost in power, Kagome is forced to pull out the arrow and awaken InuYasha so he can defeat it.
Soon after they recover the Jewel, it is lost again, and Kagome accidentally shatters it into pieces as she tries to recover it. The pieces scatter far and wide, and the story tells of Kagome and InuYasha's adventures as they search for the shards of the Jewel. As they search, they meet new characters who either join them on their quest, or oppose them for various reasons. Throughout the story, Kagome and InuYasha come closer and develop feelings for each other, though the romance apparently remains as a side plot for most of the story.
Explanation of time travel
The Jewel of Four Souls.The modern time is 'X', a period in the Sengoku period (戦国時代 - Sengoku Jidai - Warring states period) is 'Y', and 50 years before period Y is period 'Z'. At Z, Kikyo dies after sealing InuYasha to the tree, where he goes into suspended animation, and she is cremated on a pyre with the jewel, according to her wishes. At Y, the well (which exists in both ancient and modern times) drops Kagome, the 20th/21st century incarnation of Kikyo, off from the future. Here, everyone has gotten older but otherwise not much has happened. X is the 'modern' end of the well's wormhole through time.
Animation quality
Most people agree that the artwork in both the anime and manga versions of InuYasha is quite impressive, with Akemi's Anime World (http://animeworld.com/readerreviews/inuyashatv.html), Anime News Network (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/reviews/display.php?id=26), and many others praising that it is "excellent". However, some viewers, such as Derrick Tucker, from THEM Anime Reviews (http://www.themanime.org/viewreview.php?id=744), complain that some action scenes are often reused and that sometimes a static image moved against a background is used as a substitute for animation. He concedes, however, that the costs of producing a long anime series like InuYasha often make such compromises unavoidable.
Title dispute
There is a long-standing debate about the proper English spelling of "InuYasha", the title character's name. Variant spellings include "InuYasha", "Inuyasha", "Inu Yasha", and "Inu-Yasha". Fans of the series often use "IY", especially on fansites, although it is considered to be more of an abbreviation than an actual name. Since Japanese does not use spacing or capitalization, there is no "correct" spelling.
The Cartoon Network, the US anime licensee, and Viz Communications which published the English version of the manga and anime use "InuYasha" (Viz formerly used "Inu-Yasha" in the title but switched to the current "InuYasha". Viz still uses the spelling "Inu-Yasha" in the text of the graphic novels). This is an example of the disputes that often arise with romanization.
Characters
The names of some of the characters are in Western order (family name after given name) while others are in Japanese order (family name before given name). If the name is different in the English anime, the English anime name comes after the original Japanese name.
Kagome and InuYasha are the only ones that can travel between the two times through the Bone-Eaters Well.
Kagome Higurashi (日暮かごめ) — The female protagonist, a third year middle school student from modern times.
InuYasha (犬夜叉) — The male protagonist, a han'yō of dog demon origins.
Characters from both eras are listed roughly by their order of appearance:
Characters from the Sengoku period
Kikyo (桔梗 Kikyō) — The dead priestess (巫女, miko) who loved InuYasha. She was brought back to (un)life by the ogress (鬼, oni) Urasue.
Kaede (楓) — A miko and sister of Kikyo who protected the village in the fifty years after her sister's death. She is the first to recognize Kagome as the reincarnation of her sister.
Myoga (冥加 Myōga) — A flea who was friends with InuYasha's dog demon father, usually runs away from dangerous situations.
Sesshomaru (殺生丸 Sesshōmaru) — InuYasha's older half-brother who thinks highly of himself. He usually appears very calm and in control. Losses his left arm to InuYasha in a battle.
Jaken — A demon (kappa) who is the stooge of Sesshomaru, a comical character.
Shippo (七宝 Shippō) — A 7-year old fox demon(狐, kitsune) whose parents were killed by the thunder brothers.
Midoriko — A miko of great spiritual power from many centuries before the Sengoku period. Her soul was locked in battle with a demon's soul inside the Shikon Jewel.
Shinidamachu (死魂虫 Shinidamachū) — Kikyo's lesser demons that collect souls of the dead to sustain her (un)life.
Miroku (弥勒) — A Buddhist priest (法師, hōshi) who has a very deadly Wind Tunnel in his right hand. Often acts "lecherous" but has a special romantic interest in Sango.
Hachi (八衛門, Hachiemon) — A congenial shape-shifting spirit who has befriended Miroku. Hachi's natural appearance resembles a raccon dog jūjin.
Naraku (奈落) — The main antagonist, an extremely evil half demon of complex origins from a bandit named Onigumo. Naraku deceives everyone to get what he wants, and after hiding in Mount Hakurei, he becomes a full demon.
Sango (珊瑚) — Arguably the most skilled demon exterminator in the series.
Kohaku (琥珀) — Sango's younger brother who is under the control of Naraku but eventually regains his memory.
Kirara (雲母) / Kilala — Sango's faithful two-tailed demon feline.
Kagura (神楽) — A wind sorceress, created as the second detachment from Naraku. Kagura secretly plotted to kill Naraku, only to be killed by him through trickery.
Kanna (神無) — The first detachment of Naraku, she is a demon who appears to be a pale little girl with white hair and clothing. She has the power to steal souls with her mirror.
Koga (鋼牙 Kōga) — The young leader of a wolf demon tribe. Tracking down Naraku for the killing of nearly all his comrades. In addition to thinking highly of himself, Koga thinks very highly of Kagome. Often calling her "his woman," which always makes Inuyasha angry and possesive over Kagome.
Ayame — A female wolf demon princess whom Koga promised to marry when he rescued her from certain death when she was young. Ayame only appears in the anime.
Rin (りん) — An orphan girl who was revived by Sesshomaru and tags along with him and Jaken.
Totosai (刀々斎 Tōtōsai) — An elderly blacksmith who forged the Tessaiga[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InuYasha#fn_Tetsusaiga) and the Tenseiga.
Goshinki — The third detachment from Naraku who was slain by InuYasha in his Demon form, after breaking the Tessaiga with his teeth. His fangs were used to make Sesshomaru's second sword, the Tōkijin.
Juromaru (Jūrōmaru) and Kageromaru (Kagerōmaru) — The fourth & fifth detachments of Naraku who hold no loyalty, but were used by Naraku to attack InuYasha and Kōga. Both were slain soon after they were released.
Tsubaki — A dark priestess (黒巫女, kuro miko) who made a deal with a demon to retain her youth and beauty after her plan to attack Kikyo in an attempt to steal the Shikon Jewel recoiled. She met her end when Naraku lured her to do his biddings with the almost complete Shikon Jewel.
Muso (Musō) — Reincarnation of the soul of Onigumo from the body of Naraku. Regained his memory of Kikyo but was re-absorbed in an attempt to defeat Naraku.
Shichinintai (七人隊) — The seven dead assassins raised from the dead by Naraku using Shikon Jewel shards. Naraku used them as obstacles to distract his enemy from finding him until he completes his transformation.
Akago — Naraku's minion and detachment in the form of a baby that can possess anyone with darkness in their heart. He can talk, reads people thoughts and is later cut in half by a priest, which led to the creation of Hakudoshi from one half, and Akago as the other half.
Entei — A yōba (yōkai horse) who serves only the most powerful demon.
Hakudoshi (Hakudōshi) — Created from Akago's body, he was Entei's master, and looks like a 10-year-old child. Like Naraku, his heart is not inside his body, so he is able to endlessly regenerate himself. Created as sixth detachment of Naraku.
Kocho (Kochō) and Asuka — Kikyo's shikigami that summons Kagome when Kikyo needs to be purified of Naraku's shōki and act as messengers to InuYasha when Kikyo wants to speak to him. Both are powerful and capable of erecting barriers by themselves.
Goryomaru (御霊丸 Goryōmaru) — A monk who had his arm devoured by a demon. He tries to kill Kagura and has his head cut off by Hakudoshi.
Moryomaru (魍魎丸 Moryōmaru) — Is actually Naraku's strongest minion, although he is technically working against him. Due to his telepathic powers, Kagura and Kohaku correctly suspect he is Akago. He is a 30-foot monster with human shape, and can shoot blasts of yōki energy from his arm. He was originally a soulless puppet creation of Hakudoshi made of demon life force (haku).
Koharu — A 14-year-old girl who was saved by Miroku when she was 11 years old, and has a crush on Miroku since then.
Mujina (manga only) — A male tanuki in disguise as a child who uses Shippō, attempting to get the power of Tessaiga. It uses a prototype Datsuki in order to do this, and the blade was so weak that Inuyasha shattered it in one swing of his Tessaiga. This prototype Datsuki eventually lead the InuYasha gang to Toshu.
Toshu (Tōshū, manga only) — A swordsmith who forged the Dakki, a blade that could absorb yōki. He and his sword are eventually destroyed by InuYasha.
A List of all yōkai: InuYasha Yokai List
Characters from the modern era
Sota Higurashi (日暮草太 Higurashi Sōta) — Kagome's younger brother, often refers to InuYasha as "Inu no nii-chan", or "dog brother".
Mrs. Higurashi — Kagome's mother. She is called "mama" in both the anime and manga.
Grandpa (Jii-chan) — His name is also a mystery. He is Kagome's grandfather.
Buyo — Kagome's cat. His coloring is white with brown spots, and he is unusually fat. He attracted Kagome to the bone-eating well in the first episode, which set the series in motion. InuYasha and Buyo tolerate each other, even though InuYasha often harasses Buyo.
Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi — Kagome's three friends from school. They are usually very nosy about Kagome's "boyfriend" and why she isn't interested in Hojo.
Hojo (北条 Hōjō) — Kagome's classmate who is constantly worried about her health. He loves Kagome and does everything to date her. He is a descendant of Akitoki Hojo (Hōjō Akitoki), who also liked Kagome in the anime.
Mask of Noh — "Flesh-eating mask" in the anime. It is a mask demon that takes human body for support and kills the host. Destroyed by InuYasha.
Mayu (真由) — A girl who died in a fire and returns as a spirit, trying to kill her younger brother because she felt betrayed. Kagome appeased her and saved her from being sent to hell by the Tatarimokke.
Tatarimokke — A gentle yellow round yōkai that plays a flute to guide children's souls to heaven or to hell, depending on their actions after death.
[edit]
Cameo appearances
Jimmy Kudo (Shin'ichi Kudo) and Rachel Moore (Ran Mori) of Case Closed (Detective Conan) make a cameo appearance in episode 128. Detective Conan is published in Shonen Sunday along with InuYasha. The anime is available in the US as Case Closed from FUNimation.
Special items and attacks
This is a list of special items and attacks in the InuYasha anime and manga series.
InuYasha
Kotodama no Nenju — A magical rosary made by Kikyo; and later invoked by Kaede; to subjugate InuYasha when Kagome says "osuwari" or "sit".
Fire Rat Robe — InuYasha's kimono. It is strong like armor and is resistant to fire.
Claws of Steel (Sankontessō) — InuYasha's basic attack, he slashes opponent with his claws. Known in the English anime as Iron Reaver Soul Stealer, or just Iron Reaver.
Hijinkessō — InuYasha's special attack. He creates blood razors to cut his enemies. Known in the English anime as Blades of Blood.
Tessaiga — InuYasha's sword, made from one of his father's fangs. Tessaiga has three attacks:
Wind Scar (風の傷, Kaze no Kizu): Special attack that can kill 100 yōkai with one strike. InuYasha learned it by himself while fighting Sesshomaru, but it was first used to save Miroku from yōkai.
Backlash Wave (爆流破, Bakuryūha): Tessaiga's ultimate attack, caused by the overpowering and merging of an opponent's energy with a Kaze no Kizu to create a massive backlash against the opponent. Inuyasha discovered this ability while fighting Ryukōtsusei, a giant dragon yōkai who even Inuyasha's father was unable to defeat completely.
Diamond Spear Blast — (金剛槍破, Kongōsōha) This power was given to InuYasha by Hōsenki to defeat Naraku in the boundary between this world and the next.
Ryuurin no Tessaiga's technique — A currently un-named technique from the manga that allows the Tessaiga to absorb a youkai's energy. Inuyasha learns this technique after breaking the Datsuki, a weapon forged from a dragon scale. However in the later manga chapters it is revealed by Totosai that because Inuyasha's fang was used to reforge the Tessaiga, it can only absorb a limited amount of yōki. If Inuyasha were to absorb too much yōki then the blade were to turn black and it would cause him immense pain.
Tessaiga has five forms:
Rusty Tessaiga — Tessaiga's basic form. It has no special power at all. InuYasha can't transform it into any of its other forms when he is in his human form.
Transformed Tessaiga — When wielded by a hanyō (like InuYasha), Tessaiga transforms into a larger version of itself, roughly resembling a large falchion. First used against Sesshomaru, it wasn't until the following battle against the yōkai Tsukumo no Gama that InuYasha learned how to control the Tessaiga's transformation. After being repaired when it was broken by the yōkai Goshinki, for a short time it was too heavy for InuYasha to wield. When InuYasha defeats Ryukōssei not only does he gain the ability to able to use the Wind Scar (Kaze No Kizu) at any time, Tessaiga becomes light as a feather.
Red Tessaiga — When InuYasha saved Shiori from her grandfather, she gave him an orb that, when cut, gave Tessaiga the power to break any yōkai barrier. Naraku eventually is able to create a barrier that cannot be shattered by this after becoming a full yōkai at Mount Hakurei.
Diamond Tessaiga — By killing Hosenki (Hōsenki), InuYasha got the ability of turning Tessaiga into diamond in order to use Kongōsōha. It is able to bypass Naraku's stronger barriers as well.
Ryuurin no Tessaiga (Dragon-scaled Tessaiga) — By breaking the Datsuki, a weapon forged from a dragon scale, the Tessaiga has gained the ability to absorb youkai energy. The blade looks like the regular Tessaiga except it has a few dragon-scales on the non-sharp side of the blade.
Kagome Higurashi
Hama no Ya (破魔の矢, Purifying Arrow) — Kagome's and Kikyo's weapon. They concentrates holy powers on their arrows and is shot at yōkai to destroy them. Kagome almost destroyed Naraku in his powerful form (after Hakurei) by using an arrow Kikyo had mixed with Onigumo's burial soil.
"Osuwari" (literally 'Sit!' (a formal command as given to a dog), but for dubbing reasons often rendered into 'Sit, boy' in English) — A voice command that causes the rosary around InuYasha's neck to take effect and brings InuYasha crashing down into the ground.
Jewel of Four Souls (四魂の玉, Shikon no Tama) a.k.a. the Shikon Jewel — The Jewel that started the whole story was embedded in her body at the start of the series.
Sango
Hiraikotsu — A huge boomerang used by Sango as a weapon. It is made from the bones of yōkai. It seems that Sango is the only one who can lift and throw it effectively.
Shippo
Fox Fire (Kitsune-bi) — Shippo's fox fire, used to burn (really) weak enemies, though it has absolutely no effects on stronger enemies. Shoots green/blue colored fire when used. Not used as much as his illusion attacks.
Leaves of Illusion — Shippo uses his magical leaf to create illusions and change his shape. Also notorious for his giant bouncing mushrooms, chestnuts, and other oddities.
Miroku
Kazaana — Translated to English as Air Rip or Wind Tunnel, Kazaana is a powerful vortex in Miroku's right hand which sucks everything in the vicinity into itself. It is a curse given to Miroku's grandfather by Naraku, and eventually it will grow to consume him, as it did to Miroku's father and grandfather. This attack's weakness is in Naraku's poisonous insects called Saimyōsho, which, when sucked in, poison the attacker. Miroku won't use this ability if it endangers innocent lives.
Staff of Hoshi — With his staff Miroku can create a small protective barrier for a short period of time.
Sesshomaru
Tenseiga — Sesshomaru's sword. Rather than killing 100 people, like Tessaiga's Wind Scar, it can resurrect 100 people. It is a blade that cannot cut the living, but it can slay creatures related to the afterlife. Sesshomaru resurrected Rin with it when she was murdered by Kōga's wolves. Sesshomaru genuinely hates this sword, though its usefulness has been proven. He would have preferred to have inherited the Tessaiga, which is destructive rather than constructive.
Tōkijin — Sword forged from Goshinki's fang. It possesses a strong yōkai and the sword was forged from the very teeth that broke Tessaiga.
Claws of Poison (Dokkasō) — Sesshomaru's right hand can release deadly poisonous gases and acidic liquids.
Whips of Flame: A very handy weapon that looks like a whip made of pure energy.
Jaken
Staff of Heads — Sesshomaru gave this useful staff to Jaken when they first met. One of the heads is an old man and the other is a young woman. It can blast fire at enemies.
Kikyo
Hama no Ya (破魔の矢, Purifying Arrow) — Same as above with Kagome, only Kikyo's bow is longer.
Fūin no Ya (封印の矢) — Arrow of sealing. She used this arrow to seal InuYasha to Goshinboku after Naraku tricked her into believing they had betrayed each other.
Shinidamachu (死魂虫 Shinidamachū) — Soul collector insects used to collect the souls needed to help Kikyo sustain her life.
Shikigami — Kikyo can fashion shikigami to serve her. One was a partial image of herself as Hijiri-sama that she used to attract the attention of InuYasha and help him defeat Abihime's birds. She also created 2 servant shikigami, Kocho (Kochoō) and Asuka, who led Kagome to her to help purify Naraku's Shōki and continue to help her by acting as messengers. Tsubaki also uses Shikigami.
Shikon no Tama manipulation — Kikyou (and presumably other Mikos, as well as Naraku) has the ability to take shards of the Shikon no Tama and combine them into a whole piece. She also has the ability to purify it (much like Naraku has the ability to corrupt it).
Naraku
Shōki (沼気, Miasma) — Naraku's special poison gas.
Kugutsu (傀儡, Demon Puppetry) — Naraku makes a clone of himself to attack his enemies by distance. A small wooden doll with a strand of Naraku's hair lies at the center of the puppet and when destroyed, the clone is destroyed. A similar wooden doll is kept with the real Naraku and controls the puppet.
Mimicry — This ability does not have an official name. Naraku copies someone's body and voice, becoming an exact copy of that person. He used this ability to breed hate between Kikyō and InuYasha and to curse Miroku's grandfather with the Kazaana.
Kagura-Kagura uses a special fan to summon her wind attacks:
Dance of Blades (fūjin no mai, 風刃の舞) — Fires off multiple spinning blades made of wind.
Dance of the Dead (shikabane no mai, 屍の舞) — Brings the dead back to life under Kagura's control.
Dance of the Dragon (ryūja no mai, 竜蛇の舞) — Creates many small tornadoes.
Kagura also has a feather that can increase in size and is used as transportation.
Kanna
Magical Mirror —
Allows her to steal someone's soul and keep it inside her mirror so that Kagura can take complete control over their bodies. When her mirror was filled by souls from Kagome's arrows, it began to crack and Kanna had to release the souls to save the mirror.
The mirror will reflect an enemy's attack back at them, whether physical or made of yōki.
The mirror can also reveal other locations without physically being there, like a crystal ball.
Glossary
Yōkai 妖怪 - Japanese word for demons or monsters of supernatural origins, literally means "monstrous weirdo".
Han'yō 半妖 - a being that is the offspring of a demon and a human, thus half-demon and half-human. InuYasha is a han'yō, and there are a few other han'yō that appear in the series.
Miko 巫女 - Japanese word for "shrine maiden", usually translated as priestess.
Inu 犬 - Kanji for canines, basically a "dog".
Jewel of Four Souls 四魂の玉 - Shikon no Tama - 奇御魂 - 智 Intellect, 荒御霊 - 勇 Courage, 和御魂 - 親 Virtue, and 幸魂 - 愛 Love. It is often called the "Shikon Jewel" in English versions of the anime and manga, however "Jewel of Four Souls" is occasionally used as well.
Sengoku Jidai 戦国時代 - warring states era of Japan, see Sengoku period.
Yōki 妖気 - The source of the power of yōkai. Lit. translated as "Strange Gas", but the actual meaning is closer to, and usually translated as, "demonic aura".
Jaki 邪気 - The source of yōki. Lit. translated as "Evil Gas"
Notes
⇧ Tessaiga is called Tetsusaiga in the English language versions of InuYasha that are produced by Viz. For more information about the difference in terminology, see Tessaiga.
External links
Adult Swim - InuYasha (http://www.adultswim.com/shows/inuyasha/index.html)
Official anime website in Japanese (http://www.sunrise-inc.co.jp/yasya/)
Official manga website in Japanese (http://websunday.net/inuyasha/index.html)
InuYasha (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290223/) at the Internet Movie Database
YTV website for InuYasha (http://www.ytv.com/programming/shows/inuyasha/?showid=215) (YTV in Canada, not Yomiuri TV in Japan)
InuYasha — Sengoku o-Togi Zoushi (http://www.wot-club.org.uk/Inuyasha/)
Sengoku Jidai (http://web.utk.edu/~bborchar/)
Detailed information on production and other details (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=159)
InuYasha Companion (http://furinkan.com/iycompanion/): Has a good episode guide and up to date on the latest Manga Chapters.
Ear-Tweak (http://ear-tweak.com/)
Inuyasha Scripts & Episode Capsules (http://inuyasha.yoll.net)
TvTome's website for Inuyasha (http://www.tvtome.com/Inuyasha/)
Inuyasha World (http://www.inuyashaworld.com/)
InuYasha Galaxy (http://iyg.arthmoor.com/)
Original Japanese Inuyasha Manga Direct from Japan. (http://www.hirohurl.net/manga.html)
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